


The Hunters' Chorus

by Lots_O_Lemons



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:14:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29031489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lots_O_Lemons/pseuds/Lots_O_Lemons
Summary: The words got stuck in his throat. He didn’t think he could say them out loud. But he had to. He had to because he’d done it, and he deserved to be punished for it.“I...I killed them.”The world started to spin, nausea taking its place in Fives stomach.“I killed them all.”He struggled to stay conscious as his vision went fuzzy and dark. His throat was suddenly very dry; he couldn't breathe. The world quickly started fading away.“I killed my family.”
Kudos: 26





	The Hunters' Chorus

Five wasn’t a stranger to fear. It’d been ever so present in his life, as far back as…well, as far back as he could remember. It became familiar, the quickened pace of his heart, the fight or flight response in his gut, the racing of his mind. So familiar, that there never seemed to be a time he wasn’t scared.

Of course, there wasn’t really a time in his life that allowed for that anyway. Childhood, always training, always fighting. Those 45 years in the apocalypse, worried about food and shelter. The commission, murdering innocent and guilty alike to protect the timeline. He didn’t entirely mind though. It’s hard to miss something you never had.

But this, this wasn’t fear. He’d take the worst fear for the rest of his life so long as he’d never have to experience this again. This was worse than fear. This was everything he saw in his nightmares mixed with everything he saw in the day. It was a cocktail of terror, horror, and pain. 

And it all came from that goddamn cube.

\-------------------------------------------------

He should have seen it coming. Five knew there was absolutely no way he could’ve, no indication whatsoever that this shape could target your deepest anxieties and make them seem a reality. He knew that, but somehow he still felt guilty.

Christopher, as the Sparrows called him, targeted Diego first. He froze up, eyes wide and limbs trembling, shaky breaths hardly escaping his mouth. Five acted almost immediately after, jumping to his brother to try and bring him back to reality. Chris didn’t like that, apparently.

All too soon he was torn away from the Hargreeves’ living room and placed into his own version of hell.

Five’s body moved without his consent, and no matter how much he struggled, it wouldn’t stop. He could only watch as his fingers curled around the handle of a knife, watch as his feet walked toward an unsuspecting Klaus.

With zero hesitation and all efficiency, the knife cut into the man, blood pouring over the thin line carved into his neck. Five screamed inside his brain as his brother choked on the red liquid. 

“No! Klaus, no!”

Outside Five said nothing. He just moved on, grabbing a handgun left on one of the end tables in the hall. Luther and Allison were in the next room. Unluckily, Luther was facing the wrong direction, blocking Five from view. He tried to block it out as he heard Allison scream. A red splotch appeared on Luther’s chest and in one second flat her abdomen was looking the same. They both fell to the floor, staining their hands and the hardwood with deep red blood. Outside Five smirked.

“Stop it! Stop it, please!”

Real Five tried everything he could to look away from the gory sights, but his eyes weren’t his own and he couldn’t close them by himself. He felt powerless, felt so helpless to everything going on. It reminded him of the apocalypse. He hated it.

Diego was the first to fight back, or to be able to. Outside Five jumped around, shooting multiple bullets from different angles. Every time Diego would deflect them and throw his own knives. Real Five hoped he didn’t miss.

The fight lasted maybe thirty seconds before Five pretended to go one way, tricking Diego and going the other, painting his body with blood. Real Five’s heart was broken beyond repair. He knew Diego never thought Five loved him. To see him die without ever knowing...It killed him. Figuratively of course, but he wished it was literal.

Real Five knew where they were going next, and who was in line to die at the hands of her brother. A beautiful violin melody came from the tiny room down the hall, a tune that Five had heard several times, but couldn’t remember the name of.

Outside Five was silent as he crept along the wall. Vanya was facing the door, but he wasn’t worried. She would be the easiest to take out.

Real Five screamed and fought and struggled for at least one sibling to survive this. For at least one person to still love him. He couldn’t bear to see them all die again. Weren’t three times enough?

It seemed not. The last chord was struck but the only thing to be heard was a gunshot. Of course, Five was the only one left to hear it anyway.

He regained control of his body and ran to Vanya, seeing that the bullet had hit her straight in the head; dead before she hit the ground. He touched her as gently as possible, then pulled her close and rocked, watery crimson covering his clothes. Five couldn’t hold it in anymore. He sobbed for everyone and everything he’d lost, which was about everything he’d ever had in the first place. He sobbed because he was so tired, so angry, so afraid.

But it was so much more than fear. It was every emotion swirling around in his mind, exploding out for the world to see because he knew his family was gone for good. Was gone no matter how much he wanted them back.

I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to! Please, I’m sorry!”

All he wanted was for her to respond, to hear her voice again. Any of their voices again. He lifted his head, thinking maybe his prayers had been answered, hoping against hope it was his family.

“Stop this!”

Dad.

He’d seen what Five had done. He’d seen all the killing and now he was going to kill Five too.

“Stop this at once!”

What? He wanted to tell him that everyone was dead, that he couldn’t do anything because there was no one to do it to. The words got stuck in his throat. He didn’t think he could say them out loud. But he had to. He had to because he’d done it, and he deserved to be punished for it.

“I...I killed them.”

The world started to spin, nausea taking its place in Fives stomach. 

“I killed them all.”

He struggled to stay conscious as his vision went fuzzy and dark.

“I killed my family.”

Five carefully opened his eyes.

Dad.  
And...Christopher.  
And Vanya.

She was ok. Diego and Allison and Luther and Klaus, they were all ok.

Five blinked, making sure it was all real, that he wasn’t imagining things. But clear as day, his siblings stood around, expressions of concern and anger written on their faces. They were upset, but they were alive.

“Five? You ok?” Luther walked towards him, hands out in a helpful manner.

Five blinked a few more times, remembering where he was and what had happened. When he finally realized his brother was going to touch him he flinched away. After all, Christopher had only been the driver, delivering Five to his worst nightmare. Five had been the one to create the situation in the first place.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” He faked his usual couldn’t-care-less attitude, hoping his siblings would take it as an ok. They did. Relief washed over.

“What’s the meaning of this?”

Five had forgotten where they were; cursed himself for being so careless. He was dead center of his siblings, on the opposite side of the Sparrows. Dad--No, Reginald-- was in the middle, brows furrowed and face red. He was mad they were fighting.

Five couldn’t even remember how the battle broke out, only that Sloane had taken a swing at Diego and everyone else followed suit. God, they’d only known the Sparrows for three days and they already wanted each other dead. Five couldn’t complain though, he was the murderous one.

The Bizarro Umbrella Academy followed their father out of the main room, leaving Five and his siblings behind.

“If he’d come a minute later, they would’ve been dead!” Diego whined.

Allison’s eyebrows shot up, clear indication of an opposing opinion. “Oh yeah, because you totally had that under control.”

Five was glad they weren’t paying any attention to him. He was too lost in thought to argue and didn’t know if he could, after what he’d seen. 

He argued with himself in his mind. “You didn’t just see it, You did it. It might not have been real, but you still did it. It was still your hands pulling the trigger.”

“But I didn’t mean to. It wasn’t me and I didn’t want it to happen. It’s just my fear.”

“The fear, though, is you going crazy, off the rails, killing everyone! It won’t be you when you snap either, but it’ll still be your fault! You know the song, the one Vanya was playing? It was The Hunter’s Chorus. Pretty fitting for someone like you.”

The Hunters Chorus. Five hadn’t realized he’d figured it out. Damn his subconscious.  
Damn everything. He was a hunter. A killer. It was just who he killed and why he did it that changed anything. 

But what if he did snap? What if he couldn’t stop himself? What if he really did hurt his siblings?

Five looked up at them. They were arguing- what was new?- while Klaus sat back with a smirk on his face.

“At least I’m not in love with our sister!”

“Well, I mean, you kinda are-”

“That’s not the same thing!”

Five smiled sadly. He could never hurt them, he’d missed them too much to lose them now. He loved them too much to lose them now. He realized, not for the first time, that he really, truly, did love his siblings. But the voice at the back of his mind still called out, humming the notes to a familiar song.

Humming the notes to The Hunters Chorus.

**Author's Note:**

> So this started out very differently, with Allison rumoring Five to kill them all, but I also really wanted to write a worst fears kind of fic and Christopher's powers (he's the best character of course) fit the bill. It was supposed to be a lot shorter than this, but this is the cut down version of the original, so we get what we get.  
> My inspiration was "I Heard A Rumor…" by TUA (IAMS). It literally took me hours to find that fanfic to link it, so you know it has to be good for me to spend that much time looking.


End file.
